u/InternetBackwash

So I had been debating on whether I should make a post on Massie losing being not the end of the world (FYI it isn't), and about people's reaction to the ballroom. I've heard a lot of people talking about the ballroom and dooming about the reported bunker that is being built for a while now. The fear being that the ballroom is just a cover for this elaborate installation that is meant to give Trump the ability to hide away when he is meant to leave office so he can stay in power. And from there the doomers either believe in him declaring Civil war afterwards and/or dropping a nuclear bomb (Because that conspiracy never gets old I guess).

And this theory has grown since an interview where Trump mentions that the bunker is going to be 6 stories deep, having a full military installation, research stations, and more. Immediately the internet does what it does and spreads this as the inevitability that he will stay in power forever.

I'll try to make this quick (didn't work) but there is no way that Trump is going to be able to stay in power post this term.

First of all, when the inauguration happens, all of his security clearance and access to things like the nuclear codes are revoked automatically.

Secondly, the logistics of building this bunker are impossible. Not just in terms of courts stopping it but in how they are going to manage building something this elaborate in only three years. Sure they could avoid most of the safety requirements and typical safeguards that might slow the project down, but that doesn't mean that it would successfully be built in time for him to leave office, but it also could mean that getting in it would actively endanger him and those inside of it.

And thirdly, the people in both his cabinet and in the military are not only the ones who would likely suffer the legal consequences of an attempted coup, but are in the desire of having careers after this admin is over. Military members would surely be court marshaled for such an unconstitutional move, and the cabinet members would face not only charges from this but lose credibility for any races they run in from that point on.

Even looking at Trump's history of embellishing the details of a story, you could take away that he is making a bigger case for something that might look a lot smaller and less extravagant when finished. And while this could be used to argue that he might be able to finish the smaller bunker in the remaining time in office, not only is the risk of a democratic congress investigating the bunker and stopping it a lot higher after the midterms, but the amount of logistical safety concerns is still incredibly high for the project even if it is smaller.

The most logical guess as to the bunker is that it could be a sign of creating an unnecessary expenditure for taxpayers to create a monument to his legacy or it could be some sort of other smaller scheme relating to financials rather than the bigger one that people are imagining it could be. I get being worried about Trump being a sore loser and trying to stay in power, but there is a number of factors that need to be considered before believing that he is going to create an underground oval office for him to take control of. This isn't just a move that could get blocked by courts, but blocked by feasibility, time, logic, and the simple understanding of how the transfer of power works.

So I know I made a seeking optimism post yesterday but the question of Trump and his warmongering came up again with a bit of a different context involved. Basically I was scrolling my phone looking at news headlines when one stood out to me. It was a link to a substack from a guy discussing one of Trump's Truth social posts during one of his typical late night binges. The image depicts Trump in what looks like a space station with text saying "Space Force" and him pushing a button whilst a bunch of explosions are seen from Earth in the background.

Of course this substack asked the daring, bold, and completely unheard of question, "Is Trump going to use a nuclear bomb on Iran?!" Now this alone didn't phase me as I have already realized that Trump wouldn't do this but then I went on Instagram and saw the Truth Social Post being re uploaded by Aaron Parnas (The Hack journalist), with the same claim that it "looks like Trump is threatening nuclear weapons..."

A while ago I made a post discussing how Trump posts incredibly vague things on his social media, especially regarding topics that can be incredibly frightening on a surface level. This is because he wants attention and this is the quickest and easiest way to get that. Completely ignoring the initial substack saying this could be a sign of Trump going back to attacking Iran within the next couple of days (There is no source for this information besides his imagination), I felt compelled to bring this topic of vagueness up again but focus on the second half of the equation of Trump saying something, and that being the people who relay that information, specifically what I call "influencer journalists"

Influencer journalists are the name I have given to people like Aaron Parnas who unlike a regular journalist who may just post on social media, takes the headlines off of another news source whilst changing it to make it more attention grabbing, and usually more sensationalist, and they then relay this headline whilst putting their thoughts on what it would mean, usually by just guessing (They're also not real journalists). These are usually independent people who are the quickest at taking what is said or done by Trump and reporting it whether or not the facts of the feasibility or general details can be found.

Trump has made it clear that he likes to flood the zone with either bogus executive orders that will be stopped in the courts but enter the news as if it was law, and crazy stuff that he says. You'll remember a month ago when he posted the infamous "A whole civilization will die tonight" thing. This was another threat about attacking Iran's infrastructure which would cause untold damage to civilians, but it was phrased as to make the reader imagine Trump actually dropping a nuke on Iran to end the conflict.

And when the ceasefire went into effect that same night, many republicans made the case that "There were no mentions of nukes, liberal." This was the safety net used as to give the excuse that nothing that major had happened, only a threat that may or may not be interpreted in a certain way.

As for influencer journalists, take the rumor prior to April 20th 2025. This was rumored to be the date in which Trump would invoke the insurrection act and create effectively Martial law whilst having that military parade he created. But it would always be worded in a way as to not quite say anything was for certain, only that it was "likely". And when this date came and went, they pretty much had either gone quiet about it or had only pretended that the usage of words like "maybe" or "potentially" made the statements not harmful.

The reason that Trump and these influencer journalists use this type of language is for plausible deniability where they can avoid the culpability of the words that they say, even if they can create a harmful effect. But the problem with this is that harmful effect is still there. It's not too different from yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, although these are people who pretend to be journalists or the sitting president where the words they say are both taken more seriously and somehow still legal.

Trump and these journalists want the fame and the attention that follows, and in this way they benefit each other. Trump gives these journalists an easy story and easy way for a cheap fearmongering headline and they give him the public's general attention thanks to that fearmongering. The only cost is the sanity of those who are at risk of anxiety like me or some of you.

And these "journalists", if they actually had the integrity of a journalist, should look at the details behind the worry of nuclear war and report the reasons why this wouldn't be likely. From the desire of survival from most of Trump's cabinet (minus Hegseth) and his generals, to the amount of factors and people required to actually go ahead with a nuclear strike, to the worry of untold economic damage at the very least if MAD isn't triggered, there are so many reasons that aren't said by these people as to why it will not happen. But they believe that the maybe statements are enough to allow them to at the same time tell you how likely they think it is.

This is already a long enough post so I'll wrap this up. Basically, the fear of Trump's statements that aren't backed by actual action should be kept in check, especially if that fear originates from the commentary by one of these online "journalists". And if you feel like you trust one of these people but they say something like "Trump is going to attack Greenland and Canada while declaring Martial law and dropping a nuke whilst taking a wrecking ball to the oval office." or something equally deranged, I think it's best to cut ties. And also unfollow Aaron Parnas.

While the Iran conflict is in a perpetual purgatory, it seems as if tensions are starting to rise with Cuba now. I've been worried already due to the blackouts that cubas suffered due to our blockade but the idea of entering another armed conflict because Hegseth wants to do another Maduro and capture a figurehead of another nation is horrific.

And according to Axios, US intelligence is arguing that Cuba could have attack drones that they might use for attacking us bases. Now I don't think this is credible or real but I'm worried that this lie is going to be used as a potential pretext for going to war with Cuba.

This is just exhausting so I have to ask how likely is it that we attack Cuba, could Iran keep Trump's attention from another war, would a democratic Congress post midterms be realistically able to curb most of this warmongering, and what is the optimism on these blackouts?

I've been on a bit of a emotional roller coaster for a few days. One part of this was how I had felt concern and uncertainty due to Birthright Citizenship, mostly born out of not having the ability to confirm what is going to happen. The second part was anger at how certain people on the left had tried to say that Democrats weren't doing enough for their liking in terms of combating redistricting, completely ignoring the work Dems were doing in favor of calling for "revolution". And the third has been a mix of fear and confusion at the spreading of conspiracy theories on websites like Instagram at a much higher rate. But eventually I realized that they were more connected than I thought. All of these things were connected due to a desire of certainty, and today I'm here to try to help people who might also be going through a similar desire of confirmation about things and understand how this desire can create many different problems online.

The most obvious connection is due to Birthright Citizenship. I am someone who made a post around a little bit ago discussing why I was nervous but still knew that logically BC would likely be kept, even by the Supreme Court. But even despite this, I felt terrified because I had no way of figuring out for certain how things would go. And even if I knew this, people even here had been saying things from it being something we can work through and survive as a country if removed, to the complete eradication of the constitution by the Supreme Court.

Now I have had a lot of people on this sub help with giving me more logic about this and how we can survive this as a nation, but it is still a very tense situation, and as someone who suffers from anxiety I am probably going to be just as tense waiting for this as I was before November 2025 and the election season then. I crave the certainty of knowing if I should relax or not, just as many of you might feel right now.

The Second connection is that Leftist Doomers had been spreading the belief that Democratic politicians weren't doing enough to fight back against redistricting, completely ignoring blue states planning for redistricting of their own, but likely needing to take until after the midterms to fully go through with it. But it seems this isn't fast enough for their liking, especially since the magical and amazing revolution could easily solve every problem without any flaws or sacrifice whatsoever.

The certainty in this conversation is that in terms of commenters on these videos, they are terrified of the consequences of the Court's decision, and expect Democrats to automatically redistrict without taking into account a desire of giving voters the chance of choosing redistricting, not violating state constitutions, avoiding dummymandering, not interrupting the midterms, and avoiding being stopped by the Supreme court or state supreme courts such as Virginia even if other Republican states can get away with it. And the video creators are not experienced in how to combat these types of scenarios so they create videos and posts demanding action without understanding how to deal with something on such a scale as this compared to activists who are experienced.

And the third connection is from conspiracy theorists. I have seen a lot of them online, especially on Instagram. I think that app has had the most antisemitic comments I have ever seen on an app by far. (Not just anti-Zionist, full on antisemitism). Even when you take those comments out of the equation, many people on that app are completely ignorant of how things work. I saw a post discussing the Surveillance cameras on cars post 2027, and most of these comments are creating entire fantasies of how all freedoms are about to be completely eradicated, and how if you try to stop the cameras in any way you will be put on a list of dissenters or something. Basically people either spread antisemitism, lies about things work, create fanfic of how they think things will be, or some combination of all of it.

And I think I see the question of certainty in this is how conspiracy theories are created by a few factors. One of these factors is wanting to find out someone to blame or a reason why everything is bad. The second factor is wanting to feel smart. And the third factor is because someone else convinced you that a conspiracy is real. All of this is built off of needing certainty where you can't find it elsewhere. You can't figure out why your life is bad so you come up with antisemitism or thinking both parties are exactly the same and revolution is needed. And people want certainty in how the world works so they create illogical lies to make themselves feel as if they have a grasp on everything. And humans are inherently trusting beings, so when we see someone saying something on the internet with absolute confidence in the lie they're selling, we believe them, because surely they have all the answers because it seems as if every question you come up with, they can answer. (Because they're lying).

All of this is to say that I think a need of certainty and answers is a deep need within all of us. We want to feel safe so we try to find the answer that best gives the knowledge whether or not we are in danger or not. It is a primal human condition. And if we don't have that answer, we are going to lash out at what is either not solving the problem or create ideas on what might be the cause of the problem. Even if it isn't connected or even logical we want to go after what might just solve that feeling of anxiety that can't go away.

Before the election last year I was terrified of what would happen had we lost those elections. So much so that most of my days were spent looking at poll numbers and supposed experts on what they thought. I even found a subreddit that said that Mikie Sherrill would "definitely lose" or only win by 1 point. This was before I knew that she won by 14 in November. But because those people were so certain, I thought only their logic and understanding could be right.

I don't have the answers to how to deal with these problems. I don't know how to make the entire internet realize the inner workings of politics go beyond Democrats just snap their fingers and make states gerrymandered successfully or not attack entire groups of people in a way that could actively create a new political movement by 2032, especially with people like Nick Fuentes or Tucker Carlson gaining ground. I can't even say I have the answers for my own fears about June and what that might mean.

But I will say that you aren't on your own with this. People wanting to know if something will happen or not isn't foolish it's just human behavior. But this is something that I don't think can stay, especially since action in the world is needed especially during the moments where clarity isn't so easily found.

After the Supreme Court ruling earlier this month, activists were saddened and knew that there would be a terrible after effect. But even though there was fear and questions about what it could do, they still have been dedicated at pushing forward through the fear.

I don't think that everything will be easy or that the fear won't be there, but things like this type of anxiety can make you lose yourself to it, and sometimes, we have to dive in headfirst without knowing.

So I know that this is ongoing and things can change but it is seeming like rather than nearing the end of this conflict we are nearing its escalation again, with it looking like the ceasefire could be under threat and fighting might start again. On top of this gas prices are still rising and I am just feeling more and more exhausted by how long this whole thing has been going on for.

So I'm here to ask what the chances are for the ceasefire to hold, what are the chances that Trump backs down and gives into what Iran wants to salvage his poll numbers/gas prices, And I know this is difficult to know but do we think that Trump is going to threaten to attack Irans infrastructure again?

I've been trying to stay calm about this since the ceasefire has been in place still but I can't help but feel worried that we might end up losing progress in talks by going back into just fighting rather than leaving and only suffer higher gas prices.

(And on an unrelated note it must be a busy news day cause I was debating for a while whether to make a post on this or a different headline about North Korea)

I tried to tell myself not to post for a while, but I saw a conspiracy-post by a reasonably credible news source that got me so angry at the sensationalism of it all that I felt compelled to write this. Basically, the Daily Beast, a news website that I at least thought was credible, decided to post an article detailing Trump's "Secret Doomsday Book That He Can Use To Do Whatever He Wants". Not the exact wording but definitely the same tone.

The article described how according to Miles Taylor, the Homeland Security Chief of Staff in 2019, Trump has a book of Pre-drafted executive orders from the Eisenhower Admin that would "allow Trump" To do things such as invoke Martial Law (Yeah we're bringing this back), detain civilians (He tries to do that anyways), Suspend Communications (What?), Censor the Press (Billionaire owners of News Stations already help with that), Establish military areas, and freeze or seize property. Basically a list of what Trump has been said he is going to do by doomers or is already trying to do but unsuccessfully.

Now according to the article it mentions how this was drafted in the event of a true emergency like a Nuclear attack on the US. But the fear being, that Trump will just use it to enact his ultimate plan of ultimate-ness and Totally end all freedom or something. But To quote this mess of an article, “All the instruments required to execute it are now in place." “The detention capacity is being built. The legal framework exists. The targeting doctrine exists. The classified emergency orders still allegedly exist. The man who would sign them has told us, on the record, that nothing but his own morality stands in the way.” Not even discussing the main reasons why this wouldn't work, I just have to say, the tone is unbelievably fearmongering for a supposed News Source.

On top of all of this, they mention how their own "brave" columnist mentioned this fear a month ago and how Stephen Miller was supposedly looking into this. Also how Miles Taylor is creating an organization that is going to alert lawmakers of the dangers of this. Which should tell you everything you need to know, that this is all being mentioned as a way of creating attention and money to combat a non-existent problem.

Now, for those of you who might be concerned with this supposed executive orders, I should go through some reasons why this won't work. 1: Executive orders aren't laws, 2: Trump's overreaching EOs even less insane then these have been struck down by courts for being unconstitutional, 3: These orders are supposedly in the event of an immense emergency, and courts and the Military would stop this due to not being said emergency, 4: This is all coming from someone from the previous Trump admin, an admin full of people who worked for him and the second they were let go, took any information that could have been given to the public and used it all for book deals and press tours, because they knew it was bogus, or they had money to make from it. 5: The Idea that this supposedly ultimate plan is only being unveiled as early as last month seems to imply that it is either so secret and ultimate that no one knew it existed until a month ago, or it is a bundle of plans written under the guise that people would be so concerned with the well being of the country that they wouldn't care if something this unconstitutional went through.

And Finally, the main point of my rant, Trump would have used this already. Now the article does again mention how the instruments to do this, "Had to be built" and are supposedly here, I guess. But let's be honest for a second here, Trump would have mentioned this, he would have used it or he would have said he was going to either on the campaign trail or the second he went into office, even if said framework wasn't complete the man would have certainly tried or just mentioned it in passing. The same reason I tell you Martial Law won't happen is because it would have already been called for by him.

The main guess that the article says for him not doing it is for either the threat of impeachment, or because he just doesn't feel like it. And I have to say, this severely underestimates how insane and power-hungry Trump could be. If this was truly found out in the last admin, he would have probably talked about it there rather than bide his time and act as secret as Emperor Palpatine.

Executive Orders are already being stretched to their greatest possible abilities through Trump, and a plan such as this would make any judge throw the gavel quite literally at one of his lawyers the second they walked into the courtroom. Trump's abilities have always been made larger by both his supporters and those who fear him the most, and this is the prime example of that.

I know that Trump is willing to subvert the law, but the rest of us still have a willingness to keep said law. Sure on the surface this plan seems terrifying and likely, but the second you begin to ask questions about it it falls apart. Trump is willing to break the law for his own gain, and do whatever it takes to gain further power. This is the reason why he called for the Save Act, or fired so many watchdogs, or tried to say that he had power over elections. The truth is, none of this is plausible or possible. And this gigantic conspiracy is one of the biggest examples of something being said to happen, It won't happen, and the people who said it would are going to either go radio silent or act as if we dodged a bullet.

And the audacity of a supposed "News Station" to bring this up as a possibility without even asking any follow up questions besides, "When Is it Going to Happen" breaks my trust severely. The Daily Beast should be ashamed that they put this up and platformed this idea as if it was something that could actually happen.

Amanda Nelson discussed how Doomers bringing up conspiracies as insane as "We aren't having elections" is something that diminishes actual negative events for groups of people that go under the radar due to the idea that they aren't "As bad". "Trump Cancels Elections" hides the Truth of Black and Hispanic citizens having their representation crushed by the Supreme Court. "Trump is going to use Nuclear Weapons/You will be drafted" ignores the innocent civilians killed in Iran by the US. And here, "Trump is going to use executive orders to end freedom, but it will totally happen because it wasn't written by him this time", is going to make people ignore the next major travesty.

Not only can I say that this plan will likely not even be mentioned by Trump, and if it will it will fail just as every other plan he has made will. Fearmongering has been spreading online way too much for my liking, and we need to call it out before the next person tries to spread it even further. Like a game of Telephone the Internet takes a line and alters it from person to person. This is likely not gonna be the last time you hear this Conspiracy, but before you believe it, you need to ask yourself questions, and you will likely see the rust at the heart of it. Even if it comes from a source you trust, even the most reputable place you think of, clicks are money, and money and fame can corrupt even the areas you think are safe, so you should keep a close eye on what you hear.

So a week since the court's ruling, I've been still dealing with some anxiousness about it, but I have found a new energy for the Midterms and beyond. One of the many reasons for this besides spite and stubbornness is from a big realization: Successfully Pushing back against what is happening requires more persistence and dedication to voting, messaging, and looking at places we tend not to, even more than we have before.

Amandasmildtakes (Great creator BTW) has made videos about this even before the ruling, but her message is especially important and useful since: Voting is our way out of this, and We need to vote locally more than ever. I discussed this in a recent post, but I think it needs a bit more focus in a post of its own. Basically, Republicans have gained most of their "victories" not due to only winning Congress or the Presidency, but through endless persistence in voting locally and biding their time.

For example, John Roberts was hired for the DOJ in the Reagan Admin for the sole purpose of reversing the VRA. And bit by bit he helped destroy it. The recent ruling wasn't the only one aimed at stopping the bill, and Since its passing the chiseling away at it has been done carefully as to not garner too much attention.

Conservatives won the Supreme court due to Mitch McConnell and the senate helping block Merrick Garland's appointment whilst allowing Trump to get an extra justice on top of this near the end of his first term despite being completely hypocritical.

Things such as state houses matter in that they vote for not just all state-wide policy, but they decide what a state's map looks like. And things like a state's supreme court can help protect a state's policy or help stop, for example, an illegal Republican Gerrymandered map.

Even things as simple as messaging is incredibly important in this day and age. Biden was brutally attacked for his cognitive abilities by not only fox news, but through internet personalities such as Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, or many conservative commentators on places like YouTube or Tiktok. Almost every day since Biden won his election his mental state was brought into question, so much that the average person was questioning it, even if they don't typically watch those creators.

For Decades Republicans have stayed in the public consciousness by grabbing hold of places like Southern states, school boards, state houses, state senates, state supreme courts, and pushed their message as far as they could before most non politically active people got convinced to agree with it. And when they won higher seats of political influence, they acted slow and methodical at pushing forward legislation and changes that they knew would be unpopular, so they took their time.

And now we need to follow a similar plan, not for pushing forward dangerous legislation, but for pushing forward progressive, important changes that give working class people relief and give our country some much needed repair. We have even seen the type of effect this can have. Georgia was a red state before 2020 where Stacy Abrams made a grassroots effort to convince people to vote, giving them Democratic Senators and made them a purple state. This was only one state, but the effect it had was immense. Democrats have abandoned the South and that needs to change, especially since most of their current representation is likely to be redistricted out of existence.

Many people online are constantly saying "What are the Democrats doing to Stop this", but they truly can't do much. Republicans have Congress, The Presidency, The Supreme court, and many state legislatures where they can gerrymander for further power. But this type of power wasn't automatic. They gained it by being slow and gradual, and it seems that we need to copy this in order to stop it. From the most seemingly tiny election in each state, to the Presidency, to Southern States, to simple messaging, we have a way to make change. But in many respects it is slow. Most of what I have mentioned will take time, money in some cases, people, and a dedication to going out of your way for changing how things are.

Many doomers online carry the unrealistic belief that things can't get better because they can't see the cracks in the armor of Republicans, but they are there. And it in many ways will take a lot of time, but voting is our only way out of this, not just in the ones that you see on TV, but the ones you have to go out for, and convincing your family or friends or coworkers to vote too. Change isn't automatic, but the process isn't unachievable, just slower than many would like.

So sorry for the two posts so close together so I'll try to make this brief! After the recent Supreme court decision, I've seen people afraid of June's decision regarding Birthright Citizenship. And while I am still a little nervous (would love confirmation from a time traveller), I am leaning on the side of cautious hope in thinking that it will in fact stay safe even in this court.

My reasons for this are 1: Scotus Blog predicted Wednesday's outcome and also predicts keeping BC due to Oral arguments, 2: Trump has both been present during oral arguments and insulted the court, not only not a good sign for him if he feels the need to do that but also is going to annoy even the conservative judges, 3: The court has usually thrown this back to lower courts where it protected BC, and one of the votes this time to hear the case was from Kagan which is very interesting and bodes well for stopping Trump from bringing this up, and 4: There are a number of Constitutionalist conservative judges that take a very literal view at what the Constitution says and while they might vote against a statute or previous court ruling, they are dealing with a clearly written Amendment here and can't easily ignore that.

I get being afraid of the court pushing us back, and I am still on edge due to anxiety about this, but this is a much different thing compared to Dobbs or Wednesday's decision. And while I can't say for certain and things can very well change, even as narrow as a 5-4 decision, I think that at the very least this doesn't seem to be a lost cause.

So I wanted to wait a little after yesterday's Supreme Court Decision to make a post. Even though it was expected from places like ScotusBlog, it is still a very painful decision. And while I write this with the desire of spreading hope, I also wanted to acknowledge that it is still pretty bad. I can't write anything that will make what happened better, but I hope that I can help give the courage to keep pushing forward, and try to discuss the consistent messages online from doomers avoiding the important conversations in favor of doubt and apathy.

So first and foremost, yesterday was predicted but it is still a disaster. Millions of Black and Hispanic Americans are likely having their representation removed by 2028-2030. Even Florida and Louisiana are trying to do it before the midterms. We knew that this was the likely outcome but it is still the gutting of an important piece of Civil Rights legislature by a man hired in the Reagan Administration to do just that.

This leads me to ask a seemingly obvious question: What's the hope now? Well, it's important to recognize that there is a good chance of a Dummymander, where the attempts at gerrymandering in fact increase the likelihood of Democratic seats when those elections in new districts come around. On top of this, Hakeem Jefferies has said that at least four states are looking at changing their own maps to remove Republican Districts in response. And the fervor of challenging yesterday's decision with this tactic is only growing in popularity. It seems as that Democrats, even the establishment ones, are being more interested in using these tactics that, while still frowned upon, are necessary at hopefully ending it completely nationwide, and at the very least not giving up without a fight.

The biggest step forward, however, is going to be one that requires a larger effort of Democrats nationwide: Voting. Yes, this decision was made to remove representation, but voting is still incredibly important in combating all of this. State houses are the places where voting maps are drawn and those have their members voted out to remove the chances of Republican-gerrymandered districts. On top of this, voting in local elections are just generally important at combating Republican policies state-wide. Voting in these elections are not seen as "important" enough for most voters which is why we need to try to change that in a big way.

I decided when thinking about this post, to make it also about a secondary topic that has been growing online, especially in online discussions: Doubt, and relating conspiracies. I can't tell you how much I've heard that "Voting doesn't matter" online or that "Both parties are the same". Now I admit, the Democratic party needs A LOT of change, especially going into 2028 and beyond Trump's term. But one thing I need to make clear is 1: Voting is important, that's why Republicans are trying to take it from us. And 2: I don't see the Democrats trying to take away the voting rights of Black and Hispanic Americans to try to push us back into Jim Crow.

Amandasmildtakes has made a lot of good posts about this which you should definitely see, and a lot of her content has made me realize something important: People online (not her) try to make complex ideas small, which cut out important context and make a mess out of things. Yes, Democrats are terrible at messaging and have made a lot of mistakes in recent terms, but saying that both parties are the same removes the reality of DECADES of Republicans pushing us backward for no reason. Amanda also discussed certain Leftists taking this time to talk more about the "Class War" than being angry at Republicans and their voters. While I do agree that billionares have taken too much power and need to have that power removed, especially their billions of dollars, pretending that what is happening right now isn't due to Billionare backed REPUBLICAN policy is incredibly innapropriate. Republicans decided Citizen's United, they created Trickle Down Economics, they enabled many, many wars, and they are the ones currently removing people's right to vote. Not only is it incredibly disrespectful to say that Black/Hispanic peoples' anger is misplaced, but it is also just wrong.

In response to a massive and horrific decision, I understand why so many people, especially people of color would feel lost and feel that there wasn't a solution. But that is why for the rest of us who are either not affected by these decisions, or are able to keep standing push back. And the belief that nothing matters cause they don't see voting as "important" or "special" enough to create change is made from a position of privilege. The same privilege that makes you think its a good time to say how Democrats are the "exact same" as Republicans to Black voters.

I've talked before about how the belief that "We're cooked" removes agency from people and the chance of stopping these things, but it applies even more than ever right now. We have the responsibility of pushing forward actual change through voting in Progressive Democrats at every level of government, and saying that doesn't matter is woefully oblivious.

As we reach the beginning of the removal period of most of Trump's Cabinet and various positions of sycophants, there are a growing number of those worried as well as some unimpressed doomers who are repeating a similar question, especially after a replacement is named for those positions, "What if they get replaced with someone worse?"

Now I am someone who has had these fears, and is currently on edge with Warsh probably replacing Powell in the Fed Governor position and messing with interest rates. But when it comes to other positions that are Currently held by Trump-Fans, I think there is a lot less to be worried about in regards to what comes after, and I wish to at least allieviate those fears for some people.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the reason who the people being replaced are. So far, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Corey Lewendowski, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Susan Monarez, and a few others have been removed with others like Kash Patel likely to be next on the way out. While I am not completely knowledgeable on a few of these, I know for certain that Bondi was infamous for attempting to indict Trump's enemies, weaponize the DOJ, and Hiding the Epstein Files illegally. Noem spent millions on her ad campaign, hoarded resources to ICE and helped said organization devestate countless innocent people throughout the country. And Kash Patel despite not being fired, has been drinking constantly while on the job, misued FBI resources, and has generally made the FBI less effective at dealing with actual crime and more focused on being a prop for him to look cool.

Secondly, while I'm not very knowledgable on everyone who has replaced those positions, I can tell you that ICE has been significantly repositoned to be not acting as a targeted weapon against every state Trump doesn't like, the replacement for the CDC director Dr. Erica Schwartz has a history of supporting vaccines and overall it seems as if every major attempt at grabbing power the Trump Administration has attempted has been weakened as of late, not just by courts, congress, or the people, but by their own hands as a way to salvage their poll numbers.

Now there are downsides to all of this. First of all, ICE is still enacting their agenda, while not as overtly destructive and less attention grabbing, they are still around the country, albeit at a slower and less active amount. And secondly, there are a good amount of loud, power hungry people that are entering the Trump Administration just as there are more competent individuals. Markwayne Mullan who is replacing Noem seems to be an extreme, over the top replacement for an already insane Noem.

But despite all of this, there is an overall factor that is encompassing a lot of the recent news: Trump is slowing down. He went into office with the belief that he could do it all, he signed a bunch of executive orders, and made it seem like he had unlimited power. But now, he is seeing the limits of said "Unlimited" power. The authoritarian actions in Minnesota was meant to break the will of the people, and they said no. Thus, ICE had to slow down otherwise Trump's precious Poll Numbers would have been so low that even his supporters would have gotten suspicous at fox news numbers. When he posted himself as Jesus, he had to take it down. Even though he and conservatives tried defending it, it was still something he backed down from, just in a way to make it seem like it was a win. And despite hiring the best people, and taking much longer than anticipated to fire them, people like Noem, Bondi, and many others have either been demoted, fired, quit, or in some capacity left the building.

The fear of something or someone worse taking the place will always be there, even when Trump is obviously backing down, whether it be in just optics or in actual policy. There is even the fear of a right-wing movement even further right taking over the Republican party in the future. But when you look at things like this you can see that public opinion is still something that Trump is afraid of. He is afraid of people hating ICE or hating measles outbreaks, or hating the lack of the Epstein Files, or something else. While I get being on edge due to people like Mullin or Warsh being a new kind of sycophant, there is a greater chance of them being fired when they mess up even more than their predecesor. When it comes to people like them taking over we need to remember to use our voices, cause it does matter, and that we are not dealing with an unbeatable foe.